The FNV trade union is the alarm bell about the safety of bus drivers who run on the Emmen Ter Apel routes. According to the union, the nuisance has increased considerably in recent weeks, which makes drivers feel increasingly unsafe. This mainly concerns incidents on lines 72, 73 and 74, FNV regional transport reports.
Bus drivers regularly have to deal with travelers without a valid ticket that refuse to pay. Often these are asylum seekers from so -called safe countries staying in Ter Apel. According to the union, they cause a large part of the incidents. “I know that there are drivers who no longer want to ride on the relevant bus lines, it causes fear and stress in advance,” says Dirk Visser, bus driver and executive of FNV.
Bus driver Martijn Mulder, also active within FNV, also notices that the situation forces him to choose choices. “I have now indicated a preference for early services in the planning. The nuisance on these lines is the main reason for that,” he says. According to FNV, Mulder is not the only one who tries to avoid consciously busy moments.
The worries are extra harsh because agreements were made in 2022 to improve safety. After strikes in 2021, where drivers laid their work to draw attention to the problem, there were clear commitments. The Ministry of Justice, Qbuzz, the provinces of Groningen and Drenthe and the trade union recorded it in a safety agreement, a document with agreements about how they keep things safe.
According to FNV, little of those agreements ends up in practice. Trade union administrator Edwin Kuiper says that the Bond Qbuzz still referred to compliance with the security measures at the beginning of August. Yet little has been improved. In the evening in the evening, shuttle services are falling out, which means that regular buses have more nuisance. There is also insufficient supervision of stations and at entry stops, the trade union states.
In addition, drivers criticize Qbuzz’s decision to abolish the direct communication line with supervisors. This makes it longer before drivers get help with incidents. According to FNV, that makes the situation unnecessarily dangerous, certainly in an emergency.
To increase the pressure, FNV sent a letter letter to Qbuzz, the Ministry of Justice and the Provincial States of Groningen and Drenthe. In the letter, the trade union calls on all parties to quickly return to the table and to fulfill the previously made agreements.
According to FNV, there is only peace on the bus when commitments are being complied with and drivers have the certainty that their safety is paramount. “The drivers are fed up and want something to change,” said Kuiper.